yoboyjdizz
Active member
yeah sounds cool but i would try to keep it in the 3-4ft tall range...
How tall is to tall?
- Thread starter ecreef
- Start date
cubuffs
New member
ecreef, I would look into 1000w mh to illuminate the corals that you may want to have. If you check this site, there is a person who lives in Superior, CO who has a 5' deep tank and hates it. He has the claw, but when he was originally landscaping the tank, he had much troubles maneuvering the rocks, corals etc. In my opinion, 36" is too deep for me. I would go shorter.
Cu and all Thanks so much for the advice. Priced out what I wanted as a fresh water tank an it was about 27k. So much for that Idea. I decided to snag up that 220 that went up for sale around here by officespace. It has to go downstairs which was not the plan, but I will get more use out of it I suppose.
triggerfish1976
New member
I actually thought about doing a tall tank 4'-6' but the cost ditched the project.
I was going to basically create a tiered live rock wall similar to what you suggest and have low light corals on the bottom and select corals with different light requirements going up the rock toward 1000watt metal halides. I was going to run a closed loop setup with different input holes from the bottom to the top of the tank.
I estimated that a tank this deep would be much easier to keep cool than a shorter tank but I still planned on running a 1 hp chiller.
I was going to basically create a tiered live rock wall similar to what you suggest and have low light corals on the bottom and select corals with different light requirements going up the rock toward 1000watt metal halides. I was going to run a closed loop setup with different input holes from the bottom to the top of the tank.
I estimated that a tank this deep would be much easier to keep cool than a shorter tank but I still planned on running a 1 hp chiller.
Ramble On Rose
New member
:lol: :lol: funny and SO SO true.
triggerfish1976
New member
I couple of other issues that I ran into when looking into a tall tank that ended up swaying me toward a shorter but longer tank:
1. Acrylic thickness: 48" + height tanks require at least 2" acylic especially if you go over 4' long. A 6' tall tank can require 3" acrylic. At one point I priced a 6'h x 6'l x 4'd tank and had to use 3" acrylic. The tank alone was over $25,000.
2. As everyone else has noted tall tanks are difficult to clean. If you were to do a reef you would eventually start to get corraline growth which requires some elbow grease to remove. I can generally keep it under control with my magnavore but once it turns purple you will need a scraper to get it off. Tongs will not provide enough leverage toward the bottom so you will have to get inside the tank to get it off.
3. Waterflow/circulation - Besides cost this was one of the major obsticles that I ran across when researching the setup. The main issue I forsaw was the detritus will want to settle at the puttom of the tank and you will need a ton of waterflow to keep it stirred and toward the top of the tank so it can eventually make it to your sump and skimmer. You will also need to keep the tank crystal clear to allow the light to penetrate to the bottom. I was planning on running (5) 5600 gallon/hr pumps on a closed looped to achieve the appropriate circulation in the tank and then an additional pump to circulate the water from the tank to the sump. I was planning this way before Tunze Streams came out so they would be a possible substitution for a close loop system.
4. electrical costs - The equipment needed to run a tank like this is going to require a sick amount of electricity. Three years ago I estimated about $300-$400/month in electrical costs for the lighting, chiller and all of the pumps. With energy costs the way they are now I would add an additional $100 on top of that.
5. Support - Tall tanks put much more weight on a small footprint as opposed to shorter tanks that are deeper and longer. You will need to make sure that the floor where you plan on putting the tank can hold the weight.
I am not trying to sway you from this. If you have a ton of money and really enjoy the maintence side of this hobby then it could be a real nice and enjoyable setup.
1. Acrylic thickness: 48" + height tanks require at least 2" acylic especially if you go over 4' long. A 6' tall tank can require 3" acrylic. At one point I priced a 6'h x 6'l x 4'd tank and had to use 3" acrylic. The tank alone was over $25,000.
2. As everyone else has noted tall tanks are difficult to clean. If you were to do a reef you would eventually start to get corraline growth which requires some elbow grease to remove. I can generally keep it under control with my magnavore but once it turns purple you will need a scraper to get it off. Tongs will not provide enough leverage toward the bottom so you will have to get inside the tank to get it off.
3. Waterflow/circulation - Besides cost this was one of the major obsticles that I ran across when researching the setup. The main issue I forsaw was the detritus will want to settle at the puttom of the tank and you will need a ton of waterflow to keep it stirred and toward the top of the tank so it can eventually make it to your sump and skimmer. You will also need to keep the tank crystal clear to allow the light to penetrate to the bottom. I was planning on running (5) 5600 gallon/hr pumps on a closed looped to achieve the appropriate circulation in the tank and then an additional pump to circulate the water from the tank to the sump. I was planning this way before Tunze Streams came out so they would be a possible substitution for a close loop system.
4. electrical costs - The equipment needed to run a tank like this is going to require a sick amount of electricity. Three years ago I estimated about $300-$400/month in electrical costs for the lighting, chiller and all of the pumps. With energy costs the way they are now I would add an additional $100 on top of that.
5. Support - Tall tanks put much more weight on a small footprint as opposed to shorter tanks that are deeper and longer. You will need to make sure that the floor where you plan on putting the tank can hold the weight.
I am not trying to sway you from this. If you have a ton of money and really enjoy the maintence side of this hobby then it could be a real nice and enjoyable setup.
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